


Richie Tozier’s Birthday Week Extravaganza

by mseg_21



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Friendship, High School AU, M/M, Modern AU, Reddie, Richie’s Birthday, Swearing, The Losers All Love Richie So Much, The Losers Club, Underage Drug Use, Underage Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 14:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13929204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mseg_21/pseuds/mseg_21
Summary: It’s Richie’s birthday and the losers go to all lengths to make sure he has not only the best day, but also the best week.ORIn which the Loser’s club should be called in fact the Richie Tozier Appreciation club, because we all know they love him more than any of us ever could.





	Richie Tozier’s Birthday Week Extravaganza

* * *

 

“Guess what, suckers?” Richie yelled before taking his seat at the lunch table, between Eddie and Stan, “It’s exactly one week until my birthday!”

There were various grunts, sighs and eye rolls from his friends in response. “You’ve been counting down the days since March started. We _know_ , Richard” Stanley said.

“Well, I’m excited, Stan the man! Especially to see what you guys are planning to do!” Richie answers, while stealing a grape from Eddie’s tray.

Eddie glared at him, but Richie only blew a kiss at him in response.

“What makes you think we are planning something?” Bev asks him.

“Well, I’ve seen you guys sneaking around, and whispering behind my back. Also, you stop talking whenever I arrive, you did it just now when I got here.” He paused, and with a smirk, he added, “Not to mention, the other day Ben thought I was Stan and said, ’Hey, Stan, I just got the best idea for Richie’s surprise’, so there’s that.”

Four heads turned to look at Ben at the same time, he seemed to be wishing he could disappear, if his red face and wide eyes meant anything.

“You told him?” Bev shouted.

“I told you guys! We shouldn’t have told Ben!” Eddie said, shaking his head.

“You though Richie was me? What the fuck, Ben?” Stan said, and he looked more distraught over that than over Ben ruining the surprise they had been planning for weeks.

“I feel d-d-disappointed, yet n-n-not surprised” Bill sighed. Richie only laughed.

“Damnit, Richie! You weren’t supposed to say anything!” Ben said looking at his friend.

“No, Benny Boy, that was you” Richie chuckled.

Ben glared at Richie, as much as someone as sweet as Ben could, and turned to look at his other friends, “I’m sorry guys, I didn’t mean to, I swear! Besides I didn’t tell him what the surprises were!” he said, pleadingly.

Richie perked up, “Surprises? As in more than one?” he asked, excitedly.

“BEN!”

“Oh my God! Stop talking!”

“Seriously?!”

“I can’t believe this.”

While his friends chastised Ben for slipping up not once, but twice, Richie was beaming, “Aw you guys, you didn’t have to!” he said throwing his arms around Eddie and Stan’s shoulders.

“We haven’t done anything” Eddie said shrugging him off, “And we won’t if you start to pester us with questions, so behave!” he added, pointing a threatening finger at him.

Richie softly bit said finger, making Eddie squeal and hit his arm. Richie laughed, “Don’t worry, Eddie Spaghetti. Unlike you, I fucking love surprises!”

“I know, but you are also really impatient.”

“I’ll behave, I promise” Richie said, holding his hands up in defense.

Eddie narrowed his eyes at him and then he said, “Fine, then show up at my house at four tomorrow and you’ll get one” Eddie replied, while he grabbed an alcohol gel bottle from his fanny pack to clean the hand with the finger that Richie bit. When none of his friends said anything, not even Richie, he looked up and found them all staring at him in either surprised or amusement, Beverly was downright smirking. “What?”

“Because I know you, I know for a fact that what you just said wasn’t you propositioning me in front of all our friends, so exactly _what_ did you mean?” Richie said.

Eddie stared at him in confusion, then realized what he had said and how it sounded and blushed furiously before stammering, “That was not… I didn’t… I meant… Fuck!”

“Yeah, we figured that’s what you m-m-meant, Eddie” Bill said with a smirk and Beverly cackled.

“Shut up, Bill! You are _all_ coming to my house tomorrow afternoon, okay? All of you, for Richie’s, strictly PG-rated, surprise.” Eddie explained hurriedly.

“Okay, Eds! You can always give me a sexy surprise later, when the others are all gone” Richie said, with a wink.

“Beep beep, you dick!”

“You love my dick, Eds” Richie replied, waggling his eyebrows. Eddie glowered at him and threw a handful of grapes at his best friend’s face. Bill and Beverly laughed at their friend’s banter, Ben shook his head fondly.

Stan only rolled his eyes and said, “I’m surrounded by idiots” while pulling out his phone so he could text Mike and tell him how lucky he was to have missed school today and not have to deal with their friend’s nonsense.

-♥-

The next day, Richie showed up late to Eddie’s house. On Saturdays, he worked the afternoon shift at the Aladdin, it ended at three thirty, which would have given him enough time to get to Eddie’s house before four. But today, he had been held back because two minutes before his shift ended a group of at least a dozen middle schoolers had shown up and taken _forever_ to order their snacks. By the time he made it, all of his other friends had already arrived.

Eddie glared at him when he opened the door to his house, “You’re late.”

“And you’re beautiful!” Richie replied with an innocent smile and a kiss to Eddie’s cheek. The smaller boy rolled his eyes but let Richie inside without saying anything else.

His friends were all sitting around in Eddie’s living room waiting for him, his eyes landed on Mike, who was sitting on the recliner by himself.

“Mikey! Fucking missed you at school yesterday!” Richie exclaimed and climbed on his friend’s lap to give him a hug. Mike chuckled but hugged him back.

“Missed you too, Rich! They told me you were being a menace yesterday, exposing Ben, embarrassing Eddie.”

“Sounds like a normal Friday to me” Eddie replied taking a seat next to Stan on the couch.

Richie lifted himself off of Mike and went to sit beside Eddie, the only spot that wasn’t occupied by either of his friends.

“You can’t blame me, Eds. Not when you look so fucking cute when you’re embarrassed!” He said pinching Eddie’s cheek, then he addressed all of his friends when he said, “Okay losers, I was promised a surprise, so where is it?”

They all turned to look at Beverly, who was sitting on the coffee table next to Ben, “Well Rich, since you love surprises so much, we figured this year, instead of a big surprise on your birthday we could give you seven different surprises. One each day of the week starting today and until your birthday next Friday” she explained.

When Richie didn’t say anything, Bill asked, “What d-d-do you think, Richie?”

“What do I think Big Bill? I think this is fucking awesome! Do I get a surprise today?” He asked, looking excitedly at his friends.

“Yes, you do” Beverly answered, “My surprise.”

“Fuck yeah! Let the Richie Tozier Birthday Week Extravaganza begin!”He shouted.

Stan groaned, “We are not calling it that”, he said, making his friends laugh.

**Day 1: Beverly’s surprise**

Bev took Ben to the kitchen to collect the surprise, instructing the others to prepare the living room for their movie night.

“What about your mom, Eds?” Richie asked, while he and Eddie grabbed blankets and pillows from the boy’s room.

“She went to visit my aunt, she won’t be back until tomorrow night.”

“Sweet, it’s been a while since we slept over at your place. All of us I mean, I sleep here every night… after fucking your mom!” he joked, and was hit with a pillow right on his face for it.

Once the living room was ready and the losers were all lying on the blankets on the floor, with pillows and cushions around them, Bev and Ben came in, each of them carrying a plastic box in his hands.

They placed them in front of Richie and, like a kid who is handed a present, he opened them immediately.

The boxes were filled with brownies and the smug smile on Beverly’s face told Richie that these were special, they were weed brownies, something he had been asking her to do for him for weeks. He had tried to make them once but he ended up burning the brownies and wasting all the weed that Bev had gotten them.

He was beaming when he said “Beverly Marsh, you fucking didn’t!”

Eddie peeked over Richie’s shoulder to see, “Brownies?” he said frowning at Beverly, then turned to look at Richie and asked, “Why are you so excited about that?”

Richie chuckled, “Oh my sweet innocent Eds, these are weed brownies.” Eddie’s eyes widened and his mouth forming a little “o” in surprise, “Which means you have no excuse not to get high with me today, baby” Richie added with a grin. At Eddie’s nervous glance, he whispered, “I’m kidding, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“I… I’m kind of curious, to be honest” He said as he shrugged his shoulders, “I could try one I guess.”

Richie beamed at him, then he turned to the rest of his friends and shouted, “Let’s get fucking lit!”

And even though, they laughed and shook their heads at him, they did just that.

**Day 2: Bill’s surprise**

The night before the losers didn’t go to bed _per se_ , they just fell asleep on the pile of blankets after too many brownies and too many movies.

Bill was the first to wake up, he made his way through the pile of bodies that were his friends and went to the kitchen. When he and Eddie were kids, they had had many sleepovers at Eddie’s house, since Mrs. Kaspbrak preferred having Eddie close by and Bill’s mom didn’t appreciate any noise that could wake up baby Georgie. Due to that, Bill knew his way around this kitchen, so he started cooking some eggs, making some toast and preparing some coffee for when the rest of his friends woke up.

Mike joined him soon after and added some bacon to the mix as well, then Stan came in, but only to sit down on the table, lay his head in his arms and go back to sleep.

Ben, Beverly, Eddie and Richie were still asleep by the time everything was ready. Bill went to the living room to wake them up, after all they had things to do and places to be. He found Beverly and Ben cuddling on the couch, Eddie was lying on top of Richie, his arms curled around the smaller boy’s waist. Bill couldn’t resist and he grabbed his phone and took a picture of his friends before gently waking them up, and by gently, it means he threw pillows at them.

“Time to wake up, losers! Breakfast is ready!” His friends groaned in response and Richie flipped him off without even opening his eyes, “Richie, if you want your surprise of the day, you b-b-better get your ass from under Eddie and to the kitchen in five m-m-minutes.”

It took them more than five minutes but eventually the seven of them were sitting on the kitchen table eating.

Eventually Richie spoke, “so, Billiam, I believe you said something about a surprise for me, is it your turn?”

Bill nods, “We are going on a small roadtrip today, so you all better be ready to leave in half an hour.”

“Where are we going?” Ben asked.

“Sorry Ben, it’s a surprise.”

“I thought the surprise was for Richie?”

“Do we have to remind you what happened the last time we asked you to keep a secret from Richie?” Stan asked, raising his eyebrows at Ben from behind his coffee mug, the second one since waking up.

Ben blushed, but when his friends laughed, he did too.

Once they finished eating, they got ready and piled up in Bill’s mom van, the only car where the seven of them could fit somewhat comfortably.

Bill was driving, with Stan riding shotgun, Mike and Ben where in the middle and Richie, Eddie and Beverly were in the back. Bill still wouldn’t tell them where they were going but he promised it was a short trip, thirty minutes tops. That didn’t stop Richie from annoyingly asking if they were there yet every five minutes, though.

Eddie rolled his eyes, “Richie I swear to God if you ask one more fucking time-“

“We are here!” Bill announced, making all of his friends look out the windows.

Here turned out to be a small town that looked like it came from an eighties movie, Richie thought it was pretty cool, but he couldn’t see why Bill had brought them there for his surprise.

Then he saw the sign Bill was driving them to, it said “Ground Kontrol, Classic Arcade” and Richie, honest to God, squealed in excitement. He was unbuckling his seatbelt and going over his friends to get out, before Bill was even done parking.

He stood on the parking lot looking at the arcade in awe until the rest of his friends joined him. He jumped at Bill clinging to him in a hug, since Richie was taller than Bill, having shot up when he turned fifteen, two years ago, Bill struggled to keep the both of them on their feet, but managed in the end.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Richie repeated over and over again. Bill only laughed and hugged him tightly, happy that his friend seemed to like the surprise.

When Richie finally let go, he asked, “How did you find this place?”

“The internet is a w-w-wonderful thing” Bill said, “There aren’t a lot of places like this anymore, not that have all of the cool games at least, so I was lucky to f-f-find one in Maine. Based on your excitement, I guess you like the surprise, huh?”

“I fucking love the surprise, I would kiss the fuck out of you right now if it weren’t for the fact that Eds would spend the rest of the day pouting in jealousy” Richie said, and heard Eddie scoff in response.

Bill laughed, “Please, don’t. If you want to thank me, let me kick your ass at Street Fighter.”

“Oh, it’s on, Big Bill. Only is your ass that’s getting kicked instead” Richie answered with a laugh, throwing his arm around Bill’s shoulders, leading him to the door, his friends following close behind.

In the end, Richie won, but Bill couldn’t even be mad about it with how much Richie seemed to be enjoying himself. They played all the games and then repeated some of their favorites before grabbing a late lunch at a dinner across the street. They all squeezed into a corner booth and discussed over who had won the most games.

“Well, what we _do_ know is who didn’t win the most games” Richie said and looked at Eddie who, due to lack of space, was practically sitting on Richie’s lap, not that he was complaining.

“Hey, I won one game!”

“Yes, but only because you cheated!” Mike laughed.

“I did no such thing!”

“You kept distracting me! With your kisses and fluttering eyelashes! You made me lose!”

“It’s not my fault you get distracted so easily.”

“Well, it _is_ your fault that you’re so pretty I can’t concentrate.” Richie said, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s waist and nuzzling his neck, making the other boy laugh. “So, tomorrow, whose turn to surprise me is it?”

“Mine” Stan said.

“OHHHH, Stan the Man, I can’t wait!” Richie said.

Stan only smirked at him. They finished eating and Bill drove them back to Eddie’s home. They picked up their things and head to each of their houses, not before Richie hugged them all, and if his eyes were shinning with unshed happy tears when he said goodbye, neither of his friends mentioned it.

**Day 3: Stanley’s surprise**

Monday at school was the usual. Stan wouldn’t tell Richie anything regarding his surprise, no matter how many times he asked.

At lunch, Stan told them to meet him at his house after school hoping it would make Richie settle down, but it only made him more jittery and anxious.

At last, they were all at Stan’s house. They sat Richie on the head of the table and Stan placed a cake in front of him. At the sight of cake, Richie smiled, then he read the words written on it and frowned.

“Uh, Stanny I think whoever did this cake, got the words wrong” He told his friend with a chuckle.

Written on red frosting where the words, “Congratulations! You got a job!”

“I mean, I do have a job, I’ve had it for two years now. I don’t see how that is something you should congratulate me for.”

“Forget that job, Richard. I got you a new one, that’s my surprise.”

“Okay, now I’m confused” Richie said, looking at Stan who was smirking at him and then at his other friends, who seemed equally confused.

“Here, this will clear everything out” Stan said, while handing him an envelope.

Richie opened it and read aloud what the paper inside said, “Mr. Tozier, we want to thank you for sending your video to us, we have seen it and we would love for you to visit us sometime next week to discuss the possibility of you joining us next summer for an internship here at KPXY radio station-” He turned to look at Stan with a bewildered expression on his face.

“Surprise, surprise!” Stan replied, not with a smirk but with a genuine smile on his face this time.

Richie let out a whimper and jumped from the chair he was sitting on to attack Stan with a hug.

“What is KPXY?” Ben asked, having picked up the letter from where Richie had dropped it.

“It’s a public broadcasting radio station in Bangor. There’s news reporting, music, comedy sketches…” Eddie explained.

“That’s awesome! And perfect for Richie! But how did you get him an internship there, Stan?” Mike asked.

“I pretended to be Richie and sent them the video from our Communication project last year, the one with Richie’s monologue with all of his voices. For some reason I can’t understand, they loved it” Stan explained, with his friend’s arm still around him.

Bill clapped Stan’s back, “You really went all the way for this, didn’t you Stan?”

Richie let go of him in that moment, but he was still holding on to Stan’s shoulders when he said, “I don’t think I have ever loved you more in our ten years of friendship, than I do in this moment”.

Stan scoffed, “I love you too, Trashmouth. Happy birthday.” Richie smiled brightly at him.

Bev cleared her throat and said, “I hate to interrupt such a precious moment, but I’m starving and that cake looks delicious.”

“Who wants some?” Mike said, grabbing a knife from the counter.

“Fuck yeah!” Richie exclaimed, grabbing the first piece that was cut and shoving it down his throat.

**Day 4: Ben’s surprise**

On Tuesday, Richie arrived late to school, he had slept in and by the time he got there, all of his friends were already inside. He went to his locker to pick up his books, but when he did, something fell out from one of them.

It was a postcard and written on the back was a big bold letter “S” and a poem, which read:

“A wish for lots of birthday fun, to last until the day is done. / Hoping that all your wishes come true, and your day is just as sweet as you.”

Richie laughed, making some of the people that were also late and still on the halls, look at him funny, “Good old Haystack” he muttered, putting the postcard away and running to try and get to class before the second bell rang.

He wouldn’t see Ben until lunch that day, on Tuesdays they didn’t have any classes together, but that didn’t mean the poems stopped coming.

Eddie handed him the second postcard when he sat next to him during Calculus, this one had a letter “U” and the poem said:

“Best friends are angels that God sent along. / They always stay beside you whenever things go wrong. / I’m glad that God blessed me with a good friend such as you. / A person to be there, a person to get me through.”

Again, Richie smiled, then he turned to Eddie and asked, “Do you know what the deal with the letters is?”

“Even if I did, do you think I would tell you?” Eddie muttered back.

The next one came from Beverly, her locker was beside Richie’s and while they were picking up the books they needed for their next class, she handed him the postcard with the letter “R” and said, “That one has got to be my favorite” before leaving him alone to read it.

“I promise to love you, when your jokes are not funny. / I promise to love you, when you have no money. / I promise to love you, when you’re drunk and unruly. / I promise to love you, when you’re hungover and drooly. / And I promise to love you, when you drive me ’round the bend, / I promise to love you, because you’re my best friend.”

Richie smiled, he agreed with Bev, that one was his favorite so far too.

Stan handed him another one during AP Biology. It had the letter “P” and the poem was a short one but it made Richie smile for what felt like the hundredth time that day, “You are always there for me, when my spirits need a little lift. / I cannot thank you enough for it, you truly are an extraordinary gift.”

He ran into Mike on their way to lunch and the boy handed him the fifth postcard, this one with another “R” on it. “How many of these are there?” Richie asked, curious. In response, he just shrugged his shoulders and kept walking.

Richie stopped in the middle of the hallway to read it, only this one wasn’t really a poem, more like a quote, “A friend is someone who thinks you’re a good egg, even though you’re slightly cracked.”

When he arrived at the cafeteria, he headed over to where his friends were.

“Haystack, my man, see this fucking smile right here?” Richie said pointing at his face, “this is all because of you and the cheesy postcards you’ve been sending my way!” He rounded the table and wrapped his arms around Ben’s shoulders from behind.

Blushing a little, Ben said, “I’m glad you’re enjoying them, Rich.”

“Big time! And just so you know I think you’re the goodest egg of all” He told Ben.

Stan cringed, “Better egg, you mean.”

“Shush Stan, I meant what I said.”

Ben laughed, “Thanks, I meant it the other way though, since you are a bit cracked in the head.”

“A bit?” Eddie asked, confused and they all laughed.

While they were walking to History, Bill handed Richie another postcard. “I’m also supposed to tell you that we are going to the quarry after school” he said and went to find his seat.

Richie was about to read it when their teacher walked right by him and send him to his seat. Richie tucked it away in his backpack and waited until Mr. Hampton assigned them work, to take it out. Only when he did, he saw not one but two new postcards, he wondered who had slipped the other one there and when.

One of them had the letter “I” and the other one had the letter “S”. The poem written on the first one said:

“If I could write a poem, I would tell you lots of things. / Of love and happiness and the joy your friendship brings. / But I cannot write a poem, so you will never know, / just how much I love you and now I have to go.”

When Richie finished reading it, he barely stopped himself from letting out a laugh that would more than likely earn him a scolding. He moved on to the next one:

“Life would not be the same without someone like you, you’re there when I need you to help me through. / Through the good times and through the bad, be them happy, or be them sad. / I don’t have to be with you, to know you’re there, we don’t have to see each other, to know that we care.”

Richie frowned, it was just as nice as the others, but he though it had ended somewhat abruptly, like there was a part missing. _Then again, what do you know about poetry, Tozier?_ He thought, _maybe that’s just how it is_. But before he could give it much thought the teacher was calling his name and asking him to politely focus on the class.

After that, Richie didn’t receive any more postcards. When the bell rang, he and Bill joined Mike, Stan and Eddie in front of the building.

He put one arm around Eddie’s shoulders and kissed the top of the other boy’s head. In return, Eddie wrapped both of his arms around Richie’s waist.

“Where are Benny boy and Bev?” he asked when he noticed they weren’t there.

“They’re already at the quarry, they told us to meet them there” Mike answered.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Pip pip and tally oh my good fellas!”

Stan groaned and his other friends rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“You don’t get to complain, Stan, after all you were the one who convinced me there are people out there who enjoy my voices” Richie said with a smirk, making Stan groan even more.

They were near the quarry when they heard Bev call out, “Wait! Don’t come here just yet!”

“Please tell us you two weren’t having sex while waiting for us!” Richie joked. He didn’t need to see his friends to know Ben was blushing and Bev was probably flipping him off.

“Just, stay there until I come get you!”

They had to wait a few minutes, until Bev rounded a bunch of trees and came into view.

“Okay, now you can come!” and because she knew Richie so well and knew that he was about to make a dirty comment, she said, “Don’t you dare, Richard!”

Richie laughed, “What was the hold up?” he asked and then he saw Ben standing in front of a blanket with all sorts of food scattered on it.

“Surprise!” Ben said with jazz hands and a nervous smile.

“Oh, Haystack, you shouldn’t have! I thought the postcards were my surprise!”

“They were part of it. Which reminds me, here’s the last one.” He handed Richie a postcard with the letter “E” on it, “It’s the second half of the other poem.”

Richie read it out loud and by the last line his voice cracked and his eyes were bright with tears, “We could be apart for years upon end and still remain the best of friends. / Life goes on and people change and through it all our friendship shall remain the same. / That’s such as a life and how things come to be. / Just thought you should know, how much you mean to me.”

“Shit, Ben. That’s… You mean the world to me, buddy. You all do” He said quietly, then he took a shuddering breath and to lighten the mood he said, “You guys are making it really difficult for me not to fucking break into tears, I don’t know if I’ll make it to the end of the week.”

Mike patted him on the back and they all sat down on the blanket to eat the food Ben, with the help of Beverly, had prepared.

“Hey, Richie, did you figured out what the postcards spelled?” Ben asked after a while.

“What was that?” He replied with his mouth full of chewed up sandwich, making Eddie scrunch up his nose in disgust.

“The letters on the postcards, did you figure out what they spelled?”

“I did not know I was supposed to do that” Richie said, grabbing his backpack and taking all of the postcards out. He scattered them on the floor in front of him and stared, trying to figure out the correct order. It took him a while but in the end, he got it right.

“SURPRISE!” he yelled in victory.

“The surprise is that you managed to figure it out” Stan said with a smirk.

Later that day, when Richie got home, he stuck all the postcards on the wall of his room and every time his eyes landed on them he would smile brightly.

**Day 5: Mike’s surprise**

On Wednesday, Richie did wake up in time so he was able to meet his friends outside school before classes started.

“So, whose turn is it to surprise me? Is it my dear Eddie Spaghetti?” he asked pinching Eddie’s cheek, “or is it my boy Mikey here?” He added jumping on Mike’s back.

“Mine” Mike said “but you’re not getting your surprise yet, not until we go to the farm after class.”

“Aww but Mikey, that’s like forever away!” Richie whined.

“Sorry buddy, once you see it you’ll understand why I just couldn’t bring it to school” Mike said, shrugging his shoulders.  

Then the bell rang and the losers scattered, each going to their respective classes. The school day felt twice as long for Richie and by the time the losers were headed to Mike’s farm, he was about to go crazy.

Once they arrived, they said hi to Mike’s family and his grandmother offered them all food. They tried to say no, but it was a failed attempt. The food was delicious and Richie appreciated it big time, but he was dying to know what the surprise was, so he basically dragged his friends outside the moment they were done eating.

Mike led them to the barn and asked them to wait outside, he also told Richie to keep his eyes closed. When he came out he was carrying a puppy with a bow around his neck in his arms.

“Okay Rich, sit on the ground, cross legged” Mike said, while Richie did just that without opening his eyes. Mike saw all of his friends staring at him in bewilderment, Beverly was fighting the need to let out a squeal.

Mike then knelt in front of Richie and placed the dog on his friend’s lap, “Okay, you can open your eyes, surprise Rich!”

When Richie opened his eyes, they were as wide as they could be and he stared at the puppy like he was about to cry.

“You… you got me… a dog?” He asked in a small voice while carefully petting the little guy. Mike nodded, “Mike I… I can’t… my parents wouldn’t let me.”

“I know, that’s why I talked to my grandparents and they are okay with him living here, but he _is_ yours. You can name him and you can come here whenever you want to be with him.”

Richie had stopped looking at Mike, mostly because he didn’t want him to see the tears he had let slip. He stared at the dog instead, he was looking up at Richie with his head tilted to one side and his tongue hanging out.

“Hey, there, little guy. I’m Richie” He said to him, and the dog barked as if in response, making Richie laugh. Eddie sat down next to him to pet the dog as well, “I’m your new dad, and this right here is your other dad, Eds. All of these other losers are your uncles and aunt” He added and the dog barked again.

“W-w-what are you naming him, Rich?” Bill asked.

He looked closely at the dog, he was small, with brown messy hair. While he was staring at him, he barked one more time and Richie had an idea, “Little guy, I am naming you after the greatest sidekick a hero like Han Solo could have” he paused dramatically and he heard Eddie gasp and whisper, “Oh no” but he continued, “also you bark a lot so your name shall be… Chewbarka!” He finished raising the dog as if presenting him to the world.

He saw Eddie face palm out of the corner of his eye, “Maybe you should have named him yourself Mike, for the poor dog’s sake.”

“What are you talking about Eds? That’s the greatest name ever! We can call him Chewie for short.”

“Chewie is not that bad” Bev said, kneeling down and caressing the dog.

“Then it’s settled, Chewbarka “Chewie” Kaspbrak-Tozier, welcome to the losers club!” Richie exclaimed, and hugged the little guy, who licked his face affectionately. Then he passed it over to the rest of his friends so they could meet the newest member properly.

That left Richie with the chance to thank Mike without his other friend’s attention on him. “Mikey?” His friend hummed in response, “You have no idea what this means to me, I’ve always dreamed of having a dog. And you… I just… Thank you.”

When Mike turned to look at him, Richie was staring at him with so much gratitude and love that Mike felt overwhelmed. “You’re welcome Rich” he said, hugging him with one arm. Mike was the only loser who was taller than Richie, so he was the perfect height to plant a kiss on his friend’s unruly hair and murmur, “Happy birthday.”

Richie smiled at him and then his attention was driven elsewhere, when Chewie came running to him, only to collide with Richie’s legs. He picked him up and didn’t put him down until it was time for him to go home later that day.

**Day 6: Eddie’s surprise**

On Tuesday, Richie was more excited than he had been the entire week and that was saying something. Not only his birthday was finally tomorrow but today it was his Eddie Spaghetti’s turn to give him a surprise.

He and Eddie had become more than friends about four months ago. Richie considered them a couple, they went on dates just the two of them, they kissed, they cuddled, they did all sorts of things together but they had never officially stated they were boyfriends, neither of them had asked the other _that_ question yet.

Richie figured he should make it official, ask Eds to be his boyfriend once and for all, he wanted to, but there was a part of him that was worried that Eddie might get scared and shut him out if he did. After all, that was just what had happened when four months ago, Richie had gathered enough courage to tell Eddie how he felt and kiss him. Eddie didn’t speak or agree to see Richie for an entire week and it had been hell on both of them. They were in a good place right now and Richie didn’t want to ruin it.

Eddie wasn’t with the rest of the losers when Richie joined them, in fact, when the bell rang he was nowhere to be seen. No one seemed to know where he was, not even Bill, who was his usual ride to school. Apparently, Eddie had texted him that morning to tell him he didn’t need Bill to pick him up that day.

Reluctantly, Richie went inside, mostly because his first class was with Mrs. Lucas, who would crucify him if he was late again. He spent the entire time wondering where Eddie was.

He finally saw him in Calculus and he let out a sigh of relief as he sat next to him.

“There’s my Eddie Spaghetti. I was worried I wasn’t going to see you today.”

“Don’t call me that. Had to do something earlier today, I got here just as the second bell rang, Mr. Smith was not pleased.”

“When is he ever?” Richie scoffed, “That thing you had to do earlier? Did it have anything to do with my surprise?” He asked grinning at Eddie.

“Yes, actually, so you better appreciate it.”

“I’d appreciate anything you give me, Eddie my love” He replied and the smaller boy smiled at him, before the class started and they had to stop talking.

After they were dismissed from class and before they had to go their separate ways, Eddie told Richie, “Can you come over today? Around six maybe?”

“For my surprise?” Eddie nodded, “I sure can, Eds. Are the others coming over too?”

“Uh… no, actually is just you and me, if you’re okay with that, they didn’t mind” He answered nervously.

Richie fought hard all the jokes and innuendos threatening to spill from his mouth, Eddie seemed genuinely nervous and his trashmouth would only make it worse, “I’m perfectly okay with that, babe, I’ll see you then!” He said instead and kissed Eddie’s cheek.

He tried not to think about Eddie and what the surprise could be and why he was so nervous about it, as to not go crazy, but it was useless, during the whole day that was the only thing in his mind.

After school, he went back to his house to change and give Eddie time to prepare whatever it was that he was planning. A quarter before six, he made his way to the boy’s house. When he arrived, he was greeted by a nervous Eddie, he had changed too, into a comfortable light blue sweater and khaki pants. Richie could tell he had showered as well, since he could see the ends of his hair curling as they dried up.

“Hi, Rich, come on in” Eddie said, stepping aside for Richie to come inside, once he had locked the door, his arms went around the smaller boy just as Eddie put his arms around Richie’s shoulders.

“You look absolutely adorable, Eds” Richie told him. Instead of answering, Eddie stood on his tiptoes and kissed him. When they pulled apart, he asked, “so, where’s my surprise?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, “God, you’re impatient!”

“Hey, I’ve already waited an entire day, give me some credit!”

“Well if you already made it that long you can wait another half an hour, I ordered food and it’s going to get cold if we don’t eat it now” Eddie told him and like the child he was, Richie whined.

“You are a cruel man, Kaspbrak!” He yelled after Eddie, when he left him to go to the kitchen. Eddie just laughed.

They brought the food to the living room so they could watch some TV while they ate, but in reality they weren’t paying attention to it, making small talk with each other.

After they finished eating, Richie picked up the plates, carried them to the kitchen and promised Eddie to wash them all on his own if he agreed to give him his surprise already. And since there was little that Eddie hated more than doing the dishes, he said yes.

He dragged Richie to his bedroom, told him to sit on the bed and close his eyes and went to grab something from his closet.

“Okay, open your eyes.”

Richie did, and found Eddie standing in front of him holding a scrapbook in his outstreched hands. The cover was simple, with a picture of the two of them, Richie and Eddie’s names made out of newspaper letters and a heart Eddie must have cut himself. He recognized the picture, Mike had taken it during their Christmas celebration last year, after Richie finally managed to corner Eddie underneath the mistletoe.

“Happy birthday, Rich” Eddie said, and the other boy could tell he was nervous so he smiled brightly at him, grabbed the scrapbook and patted a spot on the bed next to him so Eddie could sit while he went through it.

The scrapbook mostly consisted of pictures, both from before they got together and after they did. There were a few from when they were kids, probably taken by Bill or Stan’s mom. Some of the pictures were just the two of them and some had their other friends too.  

Richie liked all the pictures, but there were some that were his definite favorites. One was a picture of him and Eddie sitting on the edge of the quarry. The picture was taken from behind, so you couldn’t see their faces only that Eddie’s head was lying on Richie’s shoulders and that they were holding hands.

There was another one that was taken at Bev’s aunt house, she had a swing in her backyard that Richie loved. That day Eddie had been so tired that he had fallen asleep on Richie’s lap while he sat on that swing with Richie’s arms around him. Richie had been the one to ask Ben to take the picture.

His absolute favorite was the picture they had taken on the first day of senior year, a few months ago. They had gone to Bill’s after an exhausting first day and had asked Georgie to take a picture of the seven of them. It was a simple picture, they were standing in line, Mike right in the middle, with Bev and Stan on his sides, next to Beverly was Bill and then Ben. On Stan’s other side was Richie and then Eddie. Richie had the exact same picture as his laptop’s screen background.

Like those, there were a lot of pictures, all special in their own way. But Eddie had also included other things in the scrapbook too.

Movie tickets from the first time they went together on a date, a napkin where Richie had drawn himself and Eddie as sticky figures holding hands and surrounded by a heart while they waited for their food to arrive, the receipt from the ice cream shop where Richie had taken Eddie last week. A ripped notebook page that contained a conversation the two of them had one day during an exceptionally boring class.

All of them memories of the moments they had spent together and that Richie never wanted to forget. As he kept turning the pages, Richie realized his face hurt from smiling so hard, he loved the gift. His smile disappeared though when he reached the last page, where, written on Eddie’s neat handwritting were five words that made Richie freeze completely.

“WILL YOU BE MY BOYFRIEND?”

Richie read them over and over again until he conviced himself he was reading them correctly. He looked up and found Eddie looking at him more nervous than he had ever seen him. He tried to speak, but the words wouldn’t come out, this made Eddie panic and he started rambling.

“I know this is still kind of new, even though we’ve been together for four months and known each other almost our entire lives and I’ve been crushing on you for about half as long but last week I was working on the scrapbook and looking at all the pictures of the two of us and all the details I’ve been saving from our dates and our conversations and it hit me just how much I want this. Us. And I know this may come off as a shock, I mean, I was the one who freaked out when you kissed me and now I’m asking you to be my boyfriend? Crazy, right? But I want this and I promise all these nerves and anxiety are not because I don’t want this but because I’m scared of just how much I do. Also, right now I’m scared that you don’t want this at all because you haven’t answered the question.”

“Uh…” Richie said intelligently.

Eddie looked like he was about to break into tears but was working really hard to keep it together. “Shit. Shit, shit, shit. I ruined this. Fuck, I shouldn’t have… shit” Eddie kept muttering while he looked around anxiously, probably for a way out of this. He tried to stand up but Richie had recovered enough brain function by then to understand that if he let Eddie leave, then this would be ruined for real, so he grabbed his arm, forced him to sit down again and finally spoke.

“You didn’t ruin anything. Eds I’ve wanted to be your boyfriend since the moment I was old enough to understand what the word meant. There hasn’t been a day in the past four months, which have been the best four months of my life by the way, that I haven’t thought about asking you to be my boyfriend.”

“Why didn’t you?” Eddie asked in a small voice, still refusing to look at Richie in the eye. He was having none of that, so he moved his hands from Eddie’s arms to his face.

“Because I was scared, fucking terrified, that you would freak out on me and I would lose you.”

Eddie relaxed and let out a chuckle, “So, basically we’ve both been scared of the same thing?”

Richie snorted, “It seems like it.”

“God, we are such idiots.”

“Ain’t that the truth?”

And then they were both laughing. Once they sobbered up, Eddie said, “You haven’t answered the question, though.”

Richie stood up and grabbed a post it from Eddie’s desk and without the other boy seeing he wrote something down. Eddie was staring at him curiously. He returned to the bed and stuck the note with the words ’Fuck yes’ under the question that was written there and showed it to Eddie, who laughed.  

“You’re an idiot” Eddie said, shaking his head fondly.

There was a glint in his eyes when he answered, “Yes, but I’m _your_ idiot.”

“Lucky me” Eddie said sarcastically, but he was smiling.

“Oh, you love it, Eds.”

Eddie smiled softly at Richie, “Yeah, I really do” and then he leaned in and kissed his boyfriend.

Later that night when it was time for Richie to leave, even though neither of the boys wanted that to happen, Eddie asked, “Did you like your surprise?” while picking up the scrapbook and handing it back to Richie.

“Best surprise ever, Eds” he answered, kissing Eddie sofly one more time before leaving the Kaspbrak’s house and heading home.

**Day 7: The loser’s surprise**

When Richie arrived to school on Friday, his friends were nowhere to be seen. They weren’t waiting for him outside like usual, nor did he see them in the halls.

He didn’t have to wonder long where they might be though, he found them in front of his locker and the sight made a smile appear on his face.

They had decorated his locker with pictures of the seven of them. Eddie was holding a blue balloon with the words ’Happy birthday, Richie’ written on it, Beverly was holding a cupcake with a candle in her hands and as soon as they saw him, Mike lit up the candle and they started to sing ’Happy birthday’ to him. Other students were staring at them, some in amusement, some in annoyance, but neither the losers nor Richie paid them any mind.

He reached his friends and when they finished singing, he blew the candle and they all cheered.

“Happy birthday, Trashmouth!”

 “Yay, Richie!”

 “Congratulations, Rich!”

He accepted the balloon and the cupcake, and after licking some of the frosting off of it he said, “I want to thank all my friends, for always believing in me, even you, Stan. My Eddie Spaghetti, for being the best boyfriend there is, that’s right, losers, Reddie is official now. But above all I want to thank Mrs. Kaspbrak for letting me-”

“And… he ruined it” Stan said interrupting Richie’s speech, making his friends laugh.

“Jokes aside, guys. I want to thank you for everything. This has been the best birthday week ever!” He said and hugged each of the losers, he also took advantage of their friends hiding him from other student’s view to peck Eddie on the lips too.

“Y-y-you’re welcome, Rich. But your birthday surprises aren’t over yet” Bill said.

Richie frowned, “What do you mean, Big Bill?”

Mike was the one who answered, “There is one surprise left, we are giving it to you today during our birthday movie night at Bill’s.”

“Don’t you guys think this is a bit too much?” Richie said, not unkindly, most of all he felt guilty that his friends were going through all of this trouble, just for him.

“It’s your eighteenth birthday, Rich, we are only doing what you deserve” Eddie said.

“Yeah, so deal with it, Tozier” Bev said, leaving Richie with no choice but to do just that.

Throughout the entire day, Richie carried the balloon around, earning weird glances from some students and random “Happy birthdays” from others. But other than that, the rest of the day was pretty normal, only he noticed that his friends laughed at his jokes a tiny bit harder and didn’t say “beep, beep, Richie” all that much. Eddie also seemed particularly affectionate that day, but Richie wasn’t going to complain.

When classes were over, he stopped by his locker to grab the pictures stuck on it and put them away in his bag, before joining his friends. Bill had drove his mom’s van to school that day, so that they could all go together to his house afterwards. It was a birthday tradition of theirs to have a movie night and watch whatever the birthday boy or girl wanted to watch, and like the nerd he was, Richie always chose to watch the entire Star Wars saga, so they had to start as early as possible if they wanted to make it through all the movies, including the most recent ones.

Bill had bought snacks and drinks and ice cream and they ordered pizza as well. His parents and Georgie were gone for the weekend, to visit his dad’s family, so they had the house to themselves.

Once they were settled, Bill stood in front of the TV.

“Before we watch the Star Wars movies for the thousandth time, thanks to our b-b-birthday boy, we have one final surprise.” Richie clapped excitedly, “We made a video for you, please ignore the quality, we recorded it on our phones, but other than that enjoy the cheesiest gift in the history of forever.”

He sat down and Richie saw Mike hit play, before Ben’s face appeared on the screen.

“Uh, is it recording already?” Ben asked, and the camera moved as if the person behind it had nodded at Ben, “Oh, okay, uh, Richie I just want to wish you a very happy birthday, as of now, I haven’t figured out what my surprise to you will be, but I hope whatever it turns out to be, you enjoy it. You always manage to put a smile on my face, so I hope this puts a smile in yours” Ben finished with a wave, before the screen went black.

Richie knocked his knee with Ben’s where he sat next to him, he knew that if he talked, his voice would come out cracked and weak.

Next, was Mike, he was smiling at the camera when he said, “Hey, Rich, happy birthday! I love you, brother. I know out of all the losers I’m the one who has known you for the shortest time, but that doesn’t mean I love you any less. You’re my best friend and I hope there are many birthdays and Star Wars marathons waiting for us in the future!”

Then there was Stan, he was staring at the camera with a bored expression and talking to whoever was holding it, “How you managed to convince me to do this, is still beyond me.”

Then off camera, Bill said, “Because of Richie? Your best friend?”

“Who? I don’t know him.”

Bill scoffed, “Just say happy birthday to him, try to smile a little too.”

He sighed, “Hello, Richard, I am doing this against my will, not because I don’t love you but because this is too cheesy, even for us. Happy birthday. You are my oldest and best friend, and even if my life would be much more quiet and peaceful without you, I wouldn’t trade you for anything” Stan said, and Richie could feel the tears that had been threatening to come out, finally break free at his friend’s words.

Bev was next, she was smoking a cigarette, but she put it out when Ben told her the camera was recording. “Rich, happy happy happy birthday to you! You are my best friend, no, you’re more than that. Ben might be my romantic soulmate and Eddie might be yours, but you’re my friend soulmate and I love you so much!” She blew a kiss at the camera before the screen went black.

Then there was Bill, he was on the same room where the losers were at right now.

“Hey, Richie! I hope you enjoyed all of the surprises we planned for you. Happy birthday! We love you, I know we don’t say it enough but it’s true. We-”

“Bill? What are you doing?”

“Georgie!” Richie exclaimed with a laugh as the youngest Denbrough appeared in front of the camera.

“Making a video for Richie, his birthday is next week” Bill explained to him.

“Cool!” Georgie turned to face the camera, “Hi, Richie! Happy birthday! You’re fucking awesome!” He said, and before Bill could scold him for swearing, he did finger guns at the camera and disappeared. All of the losers laughed.

Video Bill shook his head and continued speaking, “Anyways, my brother’s right, you’re amazing! Happy birthday, Trashmouth!”

The last one to appear was Eddie, he was nervous, Richie could see that by the way his leg was shaking and the way he kept pulling at the hem of his sweater. Richie, who by now was full on crying, wiped away the tears, knowing very well that more were to come.

“Hi, Rich, uh, I just want to say happy birthday. You know I’m not the best when it comes to talking about my feelings, I mean, I hid from you for a week after you kissed me-”

“So, that’s why you guys wouldn’t speak to each other for a week!” Bev exclaimed. The others shushed her.

“-but I just want to say that you’re my best friend and the best thing that has ever happened to me! I hope you enjoyed your birthday, you deserve all of this and more. Bye, Rich!” Eddie finished and blew a kiss at him through the camera. Then a shaky image of all of his friends together waving at the camera and screaming “happy birthday”, “we love you” appeared. Then the words “Happy birthday, Trashmouth” appeared on screen before it went black.

Then there was only silence, while all of his friends stared at him, waiting for him to speak, but Richie couldn’t find his words.

Stan was the one who broke the silence, “Would you look at that, we’ve rendered Richie speechless.”

Richie cleared his throat but even after doing so, his voice came out cracked when he spoke, “I would say you’re wrong, but fuck, guys, it’s like you made it your personal goal to turn me into a sobbing mess.”

“We just wanted to show you how much you mean to us” Eddie said, wrapping his arms around Richie’s shoulders.

“Damn right” Bev said, patting Richie’s foot.

“Mission accomplished. You know you mean twice as much to me, right? All of you. This has been my best birthday ever, so thank you” Richie said.

“You’re welcome, buddy.”

Richie nodded, took a deep breath to calm down his emotions and said, “Okay. Let us move on from this emotional moment, so I can recover and let’s watch the movies I chose.”

His friends laughed, Eddie kissed his cheek, his arms still around Richie’s shoulders, “As the birthday boy commands.”

They settled once again and Mike pressed play. The initial credits for Star Wars: episode IV started to roll up and with a deep mocking voice, Richie started to recite them from memory: “It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire-”

But before he could continue, a pillow hit his face, and Stan said, “Absolutely not, Richard. The only way I’m watching this movies again is if you don’t recite the entire dialogue.”

“I will not be silenced!” Richie yelled, only to be smothered by a pillow, courtesy of Eddie, “Eds, no! Uh, fine, fine, I’ll shut up!” He exclaimed, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Eddie let him go and between laughs, he said, “Now, settle down, cuddle me and watch the damn movies in silence.”

Beverly let out a laugh, when Richie did just that, “It’s been a day and you’re already whipped as fuck!” she exclaimed, making all of their friends laugh.

“I swear the next person who talks won’t get a pillow to their faces, but a chair instead” Stan said.

“You heard Stan the man! Shut up, you fucking losers!” Richie said and all of his friends stared at him in disbelief, then at unison, they all yelled “beep beep, Richie!”

And after their laughter died down, they settled down to watch the movies and enjoy what was the end of the best birthday week Richie could have wished for.

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or come tell me what you think at @jem-carstairs-is-perfection on tumblr.  
> I'd love to know what you thought of the story or which surprise from the losers you liked best ♥


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